In Their Own Words: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Patients Describe Their Symptoms – Part 2

Editor’s Note: Do you sometimes find the symptoms of fibromyalgia and ME/CFS overwhelming? At times, it’s difficult to distinguish between a fibro or ME/CFS symptom and something else. This is Part 2 of patients describing their symptoms from Health Rising Forums. You can find Part 1 here.

Friendly reminder: always check new issues with your physician to make sure they are not a sign of a different illness.

"almost-parallel-universe" pain - a sharp, shingles-like pain occurring one part of the body (such as left big toe) and then and almost immediately, a nanosecond later, another seemingly unrelated part (such as left rib cage)

a screw driver slammed into my shoulder blade and twisted

muscles are petrified wood and my tendons are like old rotting rubber bands.

a curved X steel beam has been slammed through the upper left of my head

someone spread finely crushed glass into all my muscles (and then I moved)

muscles aching and throbbing

my bones are creaking and grinding like my grandmother's and my muscles and tissues, especially ribs, are stinging and aching.

feels like I climbed a mountain in my sleep then am trying to wake up and do it again

someone beat the shit out of me when I was sleeping

Waking up, THAT'S too much exercise! I'm EXHAUSTED!

When I wake up, I feel like I had a car accident during sleeping: body is burning, everywhere - back, legs (restless legs), arms, even hands and almost all fingers. I feel like I slept for....10 minutes (I slept for 11/12 hours)

Getting up in the morning is like crawling out of quicksand or thick, sticky mud.

Sound, Light, Odors, Touch

can't tolerate sound or light

smells and lights causes headaches

Everything seems too bright, too noisy, too fast

the feeling of hair touching my face or a tag from clothing rubbing my skin can drive me crazy. Sometimes my skin crawls for no reason, it feels like there are ants all over my body and there's nothing there.

I get dizzy, lightheaded, and just started getting that blackout feeling like I am going to faint.

When I walk down the hallway of my apartment building I weave like a drunken fool! I actually smash into walls, even inside my house.

I had the sensation of everything around me moving as if I was in the center of an earthquake. Even laying down the sensation persisted

It just feels like the floor is moving, rolling, slow motion and inconsistent. I don't get dizzy luckily. But for a few seconds I feel like my body is trying to keep from falling down- as if my knees are sloppy or about to give out. Or maybe if could be described as a brief case of spaghetti legs.

I had a feeling like there were tremors...........but no one else was feeling it. The sensation got so bad that it felt like the floor was coming up to my waist. For me, I think it was the result of pushing way too far.

I walk like Frankenstein's monster

Torso (Heart, Back, Shoulder and Chest Pain)

Knitting needle pain - a knitting needle stabbing me in my heart!

my chest feels like there's an elephant resting on it

deep tendon pain in my upper back

Feels like fingers are constantly pressed deep into my shoulders (underneath the skin and touching the bone)

excruciating lower back pain that radiates down one leg.

I've been stabbed in the heart with a skewer

Others

I don't feel human

It feels like I am walking on bone.

I felt like an elderly person when I hadn't even been eligible for my driver’s license yet.

a feeling that everything is inflamed and sort of throbbing and tingly but numb all at once, including my thoughts

About the Author: ProHealth is pleased to share information from Cort Johnson. Cort has had myalgic encephalomyelitis /chronic fatigue syndrome for over 30 years. The founder of Phoenix Rising and Health Rising, he has contributed hundreds of blogs on chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and their allied disorders over the past 10 years. Find more of Cort's and other bloggers' work at Health Rising.